Archives for October 2010

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone is having a good day. it’s beautiful here in South Louisiana. I slept so awful last night after the race. I was so achy and restless, and my knee was killing me, and today I have been hobbling around and icing my leg.

So yesterday was the Jazz half marathon. I didn’t take many pictures because I didn’t have my little point and shoot for the race, but I have a couple friends who took pictures so I am waiting to get some from them. So, I thought I would break this into two parts and do everything leading up to the race morning in this post and then do another post of the actual race next time, or when I get pictures.

Friday, October 29, I waited at my parent’s for Bobby to drive in from work, I hadn’t seen him since Sunday so I was excited and also anxious to get downtown. We loaded up the car and were off by 6:00. We drove across Lake Ponchatrain (my parents house is only about 45 minutes from downtown New Orleans) and we got to see a beautiful sunset!

I spy the city!

Hello, superdome!

I think it’s funny how it kind of looks like a UFO in this next picture.

This weekend is also Voodoo fest in the french quarter so it was pretty crowded and a little nuts with people in weird costumes.

We got to the hotel, and our race packets were supposed to be there. As some of you know, there was a little mix up with getting our packets to the hotel and I ended up getting chewed out by the race director, and then he told me he would get us our packets to the hotel (this was TUESDAY night I talked to him) I had a bad feeling they wouldn’t be there, and they weren’t. Bobby had to call him (he had already called him back for me WEDNESDAY to remind him) and he said “oh ya, I will get them to you sometime tonight.” Huh? Sometime tonight? it was already after 7 and I wasn’t planning on staying up late! I was so frustrated that it didn’t process when the check in lady told us we would be staying in a king suite. What? I had booked a regular king room, but apparently they put us in a king suite. Cool!

We were so hungry, so our plan was to walk across the street to the Riverwalk and get something from the food court.

We walk in…and there is no one there and all the restaurants are closing up. huh? It’s 7:25 on a Friday night and they close the mall and food court at SEVEN! Very, very odd if you ask me. We were starving and so we randomly started walking down the streets looking for somewhere to eat. We stumbled across this little place, I was definitely in the mood for pizza!

Pie, how cute!

We were boring and got a large pepperoni and waters. It was SO GOOD!

Look at the cute napkins!

We left full and happy and went back to the room. It was almost 9, and still no packet. I left my cell number with the lady at the desk and asked if she would call me when they came. We went upstairs and got our things ready for tomorrow and hung out for a few minutes. Around 9:15, they finally called and had our packets. Praise the Lord! I was starting to get worried they wouldn’t come.

We went through everything and put our numbers on our shirts and our timing chips on our shoes. One things I was most excited about, gender specific race shirts!

I ordered a small and it fit perfectly!

My stuff ready to go!

We went to sleep about 9:45 with a 5:20 alarm set for the 7:00 am race!

I will post the rest in another post when I hopefully have more pictures to post!

We did it! The 2010 Jazz Half Marathon is in the books. Unfortunately, my IT band started hurting at mile TWO so I ran in a lot of pain for 12 miles, but even despite that, I still PR’ed, so that gives me hope that I could have done even better healthy. My official time was 2:21:36, and Bobby ran a 1:56 something. He broke 2 hours for the first time so I was really excited for him! Full recap to come tomorrow, I am too tired to type. Thanks for all the well wishes!

Happy Friday! I hope you all are having a great day. It’s chilly here and I am so happy because I was afraid it would be hot and humid for my half marathon tomorrow but I think it will be ok! When I woke up freezing in the middle of the night I took that as a good sign for the day before a race!

In light of going yesterday to the visitation for a friend who has passed, I had some reflection time in a deep and not so deep way. (Stay with me!) I decided to blog today with pictures of my parents house to show where I am living now, my temporary home. This got me thinking about Carrie Underwood’s song Temporary Home, and that of course got me thinking about this life on earth as my temporary home, and how quickly it will go and how quickly it can be taken away. We are fragile, life is fragile. This is why I don’t want to wait to run a marathon “one day” or build a house “sometime in the future.” Carpi Diem! Seize the Day! Today! Not tomorrow, now! Now that your brain probably hurts, here are some pictures of my “temporary home.”

This is my temporary home

It’s not where I belong

Windows and rooms, that I’m passing through

This is just a stop

On the way to where I’m going

I’m not afraid because I know

This is my, temporary home

I leave this afternoon with Bobby as soon as he gets here from work. (I haven’t seen him since Sunday so I am excited!) We are heading into New Orleans and staying the night close to the race start. Race starts at 7:00 am, so we will be back at my parents after lunch. I will be updating on Twitter so if you aren’t following me there you can do so on my right sidebar!

Today, I leave you with the lyrics to Carrie’s song:

Temporary Home Lyrics

Little boy, 6 years old A little too used to bein’ alone. Another new mom and dad,another school, Another house that’ll never be home. When people ask him how he likes this place… He looks up and says, with a smile upon his face,

"This is my temporary home It’s not where I belong. Windows and rooms that I’m passin’ through. This is just a stop, on the way to where I’m going. I’m not afraid because I know this is my Temporary Home."

Young mom on her own. She needs a little help, got nowhere to go. She’s lookin’ for a job, lookin’ for a way out, Because a half-way house will never be a home. At night she whispers to her baby girl, "Someday we’ll find our place here in this world."

"This is our temporary home. It’s not where we belong. Windows and rooms that we’re passin’ through. This is just a stop, on the way to where we’re going. I’m not afraid because I know this is our Temporary Home."

Old man, hospital bed, The room is filled with people he loves. And he whispers don’t cry for me, I’ll see you all someday. He looks up and says, "I can see God’s face."

"This is my t
emporary Home It’s not where I belong. Windows and rooms that I’m passin’ through. This was just a stop,on the way to where I’m going. I’m not afraid because I know… this was My temporary home." This is our temporary home.

Goooood morning everyone. I was up early today thanks to this.

Isn’t she cute? I took this last night when she was sleepy. But, not so cute when she licking me in the face in the morning. Maybe it’s payback?

My half marathon is on Saturday, and even though this is a glorified training run, I have been doing what I like to call a “mini taper” of just one and a half weeks. I only ran 6 miles last Saturday for my long run and this week I have only run FOUR MILES because I haven’t been feeling good and because my IT band is still causing me problems. Well, it’s safe to say it is driving me CRAZY! Even though I know it’s not true I feel like I losing fitness and getting slower by not doing my other two short runs this week. I went so crazy this morning I even got on the elliptical for 30 minutes and did some arm weights just to do SOMETHING.

After my workout, this got me thinking….if this little mini taper for this race that isn’t even my goal race is driving me crazy, then how am I going to handle tapering for my marathon in January? I am definitely not looking forward to that!

I have a feeling I am going to be doing a lot of deep breathing and techniques to keep myself calm in those last few weeks. Hopefully by then I will be confident enough in my training that it won’t make me quite so crazy. Also, hopefully I won’t be battling sinus problems and an IT band injury. I think that is the root of it, that I am nervous how my body is going to hold up.

But, until then, I will keep icing

massaging my leg

and driving myself crazy until Saturday!

Tonight we are going to a visitation for a friend’s father who passed away in a car accident a couple of days ago. It was shocking, and also a big wake up call. I drive that interstate all the time. You never know when it will be the last time you get to talk to someone. Go hug your parents, spouse, childen, and friends. Tell them how you really feel about them, don’t wait to tell them tomorrow, you never know if there will be one. Can I just say I love all my readers? :o)

QOTD: Have you even experienced taper madness? What did you do to get over it?

Hope you are all having a good day! Good news: I feel better today. bad news: I am still really congested and can’t breathe out of my nose! boo! Hopefully it will clear up soon.

Today I went shopping with my mom and we went to the new Academy sports store and I did just a little damage, nothing major. It was fun to walk around and see everything!

Since I am not running today I figured I would do a little strength training. Nothing major, just a few free weights. This led me to think about all the new “home gym” equipment I get to use while staying with my parents! We cancelled our gym memberships back home but that’s ok because they have everything here! We did have to look at some folding treadmill reviews because as you can see, the one in the picture above is a little outdated and space-greedy, but everything else is already available.

Treadmill and exercise ball

Elliptical

Free weights

I am very excited about this because I need to get back into doing arm weights and cross training once a week, now I have NO excuse! Yay mom and dad for having all this stuff haha!

I am going to go ice my leg, and rest so that I can be well for Saturday!

Evening from gloomy NOLA. It has rained on and off all day today (but of course the sun was out in full force when I was running this morning!) I woke up to something NO ONE wants to wake up to the week of a race…a completely stopped up nose and feeling weak, with snot going down my throat. EEEEWWW. Totally not fun. I blew it off and went for a run. it. Sucked. Not only did I not feel great but it was so hot and HUMID. Seriously, isn’t it almost November? Yes, it was really 92 degrees here today!

I ran around by the marina in my parents neighborhood.

I did 4 miles then met up with my mom back at the house and we power walked a mile. She then gave me a claritin D which I hate taking because they make me feel so loopy, but I knew I had to do something. It did help with the congestion but it made me feel weird and shaky. She left for work and I took a nap and woke up with a horrible headache and feeling sssooo tired. Bah! I drank a frappicchino to perk up some. I was so excited to find the lite vanilla here, we don’t have it in my local stores. Only 100 calories but still so yummy.

My dad came home and I told him about my headache and he suggested I take excedrine migraine. So, I did, and my headache is gone and I feel better (other than the shakiness) but I know this is just the medicine and I am not really “well.”

So, this leads me to think about how I will approach the rest of the week. I was PLANNING on running 3 miles tomorrow and two miles on Thursday. I know I need to rest for at least one day, and possibly not run anymore until my half. I will re-evaluate tomorrow evening and see if I can do an easy 2-3 on Thursday. I will definitely be resting Friday for the Saturday race though.

On top of rest, I am taking vitamins, drinking lots of water and tea, and and trying to think positive. On the up side, this race is NOT my ultimate goal. it is technically a fun training run to help prepare me for the full. On top of being sick I am still battling IT band issues, so depending on how that is doing race morning I may have to re-evaluate my race goals. This is not something I am good at, because I am so competitive, but I HAVE to think of my ultimate goal, and do what is best for my health and training. There will be other half marathons, this is just supposed to be fun! I will keep you updated. Hopefully I caught it soon and it won’t turn into a full blown cold/sinus infection and I will be good to go for Saturday!!

QOTD: What is your best get well tip?

PS-don’t forget to join my two facebook fan pages on the right sidebar, and follow me on twitter!

Happy gloomy afternoon! It has been raining on and off all day today. My mom and I left at 7 this morning and drove to the design center to pick out all of our colors and things. It was fun but also really overwhelming. I never knew there were 9 different shades of “black.” Seriously? I am glad I wasn’t by myself or I may never have decided! here are a few pictures of some things I decided on.

Below is the shingle color, the middle black color is the shutters, the top rectangle is the color of the house on hardy plank, and the bottom one is the trim. The front door will also be the same color black as the shutters.

This picture just shows the black better and the brick that will go along the bottom of the house and be on the front steps.

This is the white cabinet, black granite kitchen countertops, and the wood floor that will be in the foyer, living room, kitchen, dining room, and master bedroom.

This is the marble top type thing for the tops of the bathroom counters/sinks, the carpet for the secondary bedrooms and bonus room, and the tile for the laundry room, bathrooms, and walls of the showers.

The whole house will be a wheat color and the master bedroom and bathroom will be a grey with a SLIGHT blue in it. We will have bronze knobs, fixtures, doorknobs, etc. and gas lanterns on the front of the house, white columns on the front and blue ceilings on the porches. So excited!

I am supposed to run this afternoon about 4 miles, but it is looking REALLY dark out again, so I may be on the treadmill until tomorrow. We will see! I am going to go ice my leg, it is feeling a little tight today. Hope it will be ok for the race!

Monday workday is almost over, you are almost there! Have a great evening!

QOTD: Have you ever designed a house? I loved that we came up with our floor plan from scratch!

Afternoon all. I am a little bummed right now, my Saints just lost. They didn’t play well and got beat so it’s their fault so I am still really bummed. Anyway, We had a good time this weekend watching football and relaxing and hanging out.

Homemade dip and spice cakes

“Grandpa” with his grand dogs

Getting ready to BBQ hamburgers. (note, I am not ignoring my mom, she didn’t want pictures of her online looking “horrible” as she says!

They have a bird bath in the backyard and the birds come and splash all around it it. it’s really funny!

Tomorrow my mom and I go pick out colors, etc. for the new house. I can’t wait! Don’t worry, I will bring my camera!

I also need to run 4-5 miles tomorrow. We will see! have a good night!

Greetings from Louisiana! We got to my parents house outside New Orleans around 6:30 last night. We were so tired we didn’t even unload the SUV’S! This morning we went for an easy 6 mile run and neither of us were really feeling it. I think we just have a lot on our minds right now.

Now we are BBQing and getting ready for the LSU game!!!Geaux Tigers!

Here are a few images from the past 24 hours…..

My dad took his “feed the children” hat and made it “feed the Bobby” because Bobby eats so much!

Trying to fix the printer. (Well, dad is supervising…)

My High school graduation pictures. hehe.

Sorry this is short, but I am tired and the game is about to come on! Hope you are all having a great Saturday!

It’s about that time! We leave this afternoon! Right now my house is a wreck and it is making me twitch. See what I mean?

So…we have to load up the cars, then come back in and clean the house so it is show ready so that it can hopefully sell soon! Bobby is at the gym, and I am finishing up dishes and laundry so when he gets home we can pack it all up!

Yesterday, we spent a lot of time packing up, and then we took a break to go to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Papitos! (I know I am obsessed!) The weather was perfect, we ate outside and just relaxed, which is what we needed to get ready for today!

Today is a “rest day” from running but unfortunately I won’t really be resting! Lots of heavy lifting and walking around in my future today. We are running 6 again tomorrow to finish up our cutback week, and then NEXT weekend is the Jazz Half! So excited to run a FLAT course!!! Ok must go get something done!

Hi! I am Heather Montgomery, formerly known as Running With Sass®, a 31 year old living in Tampa, Florida with my husband and two year old daughter. I’m just a regular girl who likes to run, travel, go to Disney World, and eat junk food.
Thank you for visiting my blog! Feel free to contact me, (or for PR inquiries) at [email protected]